2020 - 2023 Gidget wombat arrives  1.5kg released dec 2022 re released 2023

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Little Gidget was rescued on Wombeyan caves road, her mum was hit by a car and Gilbert was half out of the pouch when a kind passer by rescued her and we were able to pick her up. She has a compound tail fracture thats healing and is such a fidget. Week 2 and she's settled in nicely. 

Little Gidget is a real fidget, hence her name.  She cannot sit still even for a cudddle. She came to us in early November at 1.5 kg  with a broken tail (yes they have small tails) At that size her fur was coming along and she would have been full-time in pouch, until mum was hit by a car.  She was just not doing so well initially, and a visit to Dr Howard Ralph revealed she also had Toxoplasmosis.Once treated she thrived, munching on grass and skulling her bottle before off and running around with her buddy Willow. Highly strung is how we would describe her.

March 2022 

Gidget still in care she and her buddy Willow got liver fluke and its been taking months to deal with consequences. Prolonged wet wether has been the issue 

may 2023 

2023 Gidget and Willow came in at 1.5 and 2 kg. Willow was outgoing and playful, loving cuddles after her bottle. Gidget, quite shy and initially unwell, was content to snuggle back in her bag after feeding. Both picked up liver fluke in late 2021, affecting their immune systems so assorted bacteria thrived. It took repeated poo analysis to find the right treatments Sadly, Willow died from snakebite in May ’22, leaving Gidget confused and upset, calling her for many weeks. Now she loves a scratch when she tucks into her huge tub of fresh grass each night.

2024
Gidget is huge now at around 25kg. We started her release, but stopped when we realised we had mange in the area. Female wombats tend to disperse and so we didn’t want her going off and getting mange, which is fatal. She enjoys her huge tub of fresh cut grass daily and has more burrows than you can imagine in her wombatotium.   We will re-release once we’re sure mange is under control. Gidget is very curious and comes out for a look if something is happening, hearing our voice. We are, keeping her wild.
2025 We knew Gidget would take a while to release as she'd lost her buddy, Willow, and had been held back until mange was under control in the area. During release she had to deal with bubule wanting back into the wombatorium and some scuffles broke out.  She was losing weight so we increased the support feeding. This is usual for wombats being released as they meet the neighbours like Frankie, and adjust to the wild environment.  We monitor her progress using multiple wildlife cameras and it seems she's done a deal with Bubule, sharing the wombatorium and looking a lot better as she gets over the stress of release.

Moved to Nursery wombatorium while main wombatorium rested to allow liver fluke to die out. Her budy Willow was bitten by a snake (followed a rat tunnel into wombatorium)  she did not make it very sadly. Gidget could be heard calling for her most of the night for over 3 week's we comforted her best as we could. 

Gidget moved up to her old wombatorium that we use for releases, she settled quickly. 

Dec 2nd Gidget starts her soft release, and wombat swing door opened. Shes in her fav burrow more often than not a few week's later,  she can come and go at her pace now to fully join the wild world. Gidget is 6 months older than normal release and a healthy 27 kg kept longer due to liver fluke issues and settling after losing Willow. She's a quite confident girl now 

we halted Gidgets release till we eradicate mange completely from the valley. Females disperse so once she's feeling comfy with wild life she could travel a fair way away and catch mange on her journey from here. We know from other landowners around us its only in the valley we live at the top of.  

2027 calendar  Gidget, now eight, was quiet and shy, and super attached to Willow, who died of a snake bite. She had a hard start in life with liver fluke, and losing Willow was devastating — she could be heard crying for over three weeks in her burrow under the office. She struggled to release, becoming very timid about leaving the wombatorium. A mangy fox caused the release to be slowed while we got control of the mange, so she lived mostly in the wombatorium for a few years. She later accepted wild Bubule moving in with her second joey, and still comes and goes locally - not usual female wombat behaviour. We think limited grassy feed sites due to post-fire weeds and intense sapling regrowth, is the reason why she stays around.

September update We think Gidget has an Joey now!